The present invention relates to a rigid pack with a hinged lid.
The term xe2x80x9cpackxe2x80x9d used throughout the following specification can be taken to mean either a carton proportioned to accommodate a plurality of packets of cigarettes, or a single packet containing a group of cigarettes or tobacco products broadly considered.
In general, rigid packs of the type in question with a hinged lid are of rectangular parallelepiped shape, appearing as a container surmounted by a lid hinged to an open top end of the selfsame container and rotatable thus between positions in which the container is open and closed.
In the case of a carton, more particularly, the relative container is designed to hold a plurality of packets of cigarettes, whereas in the case of a packet the container is designed to hold a group of cigarettes enveloped in an inner wrapper.
Both the container and the lid present a front and a rear face and two flank faces, and respective end faces coinciding with the bottom and the top of the pack.
The pack is furnished with an internal stiffening frame comprising a breast piece and two side pieces hinged to the breast piece, disposed partly inside the container with the breast piece anchored to a front panel that corresponds to the front face of the container, and with the side pieces anchored to two side panels corresponding to the flank faces of the container. The correct and stable retention of the lid when in the closed position is improved by incorporating a pair of tabs created from relative cuts made along the crease lines joining the side pieces and the breast piece, which project beyond the breast piece on either side in such a manner as to interfere internally with the flanks of the lid when closed.
A rigid pack of the type in question is fashioned typically from a flat diecut blank of substantially rectangular outline prepared with transverse crease lines positioned to create a first larger end panel coinciding with the front face of the container, a first smaller intermediate panel coinciding with the bottom, a second larger panel coinciding with the rear face of the container, a second smaller intermediate panel coinciding with the rear face of the lid, also a further smaller intermediate panel coinciding with the top, a third larger panel that coincides with the front face of the lid, and an end panel serving to stiffen the lid.
The blank also presents longitudinal crease lines along which respective pairs of flaps are hinged to the aforementioned panels in such a way that when the blank is folded and the packet erected, these same flaps combine to form the flank faces and the reinforcing folds for the end faces.
The transverse dimensions of the panels affording the front and rear faces both of the container and of the lid tend to predominate over the transverse dimensions of the flaps making up the flank faces, so that the pack presents a flattish parallelepiped geometry.
One of the drawbacks encountered with packets of flat parallelepiped shape typified by a rectangular cross section in which one dimension predominates appreciably over the other, is that the progressive removal of the cigarettes from the packet has the effect of causing those left inside to acquire a notable freedom of movement in the predominating transverse dimension, so that the group tends to break up, the cigarettes knock against one another and a considerable quantity of tobacco filler is lost from the tips.
Another drawback deriving directly from the flat parallelepiped shape of the packet is that the cigarettes remaining in the packet tend naturally to topple sideways, lying skew in relation to the longitudinal axis of the packet and substantially parallel to a diagonal of the front and rear faces, so that the correct position of the group when assembled in full number is lost. This drawback, in combination with the relatively small transverse dimension of the flank faces, makes it especially difficult for the smoker to capture the remaining cigarettes, with the result that the cigarettes can be damaged still further, bending and even breaking completely.
The object of the present invention is to provide a packet unaffected by the drawbacks described above.
A further object of the invention is to provide a carton such as will accommodate packets embodied in accordance with the present invention.
The stated object is realized according to the present invention in a rigid pack with a hinged lid, comprising a container, also a lid hinged to one open end of the container and rotatable thus between a position in which the container is open and a position in which the container is closed, characterized in that it appears prismatic in shape and substantially triangular in section.